Rob Edwards, the manager of Luton Town, was left to lament a "amazing" Amad Diallo goal as Sunderland overcame a deficit to win 2-1 in the first leg of the Championship Play-Off Semifinal on Saturday.
Alex Pritchard must have felt a little like a cheeky schoolboy who contributed little more than the choice of font to a group presentation and yet came out with a "A" to his name when he laid the ball off for Diallo to curl home a classic finish from 25 yards.
Although Pritchard's two-yard pass gave him an assist, all the attention was on Sunderland's miraculous Manchester United loanee.
It's possible that Amad Diallo's 14th goal of an outstanding season was also his best. Definitely his most significant. It's understandable why Sunderland fans have grown to love the diminutive winger; Diallo's sumptuous left foot almost - nearly - makes all those years of suffering on the Wear's banks worthwhile.
“The goals they’ve scored came from an amazing free kick and a short corner,” Edwards sighs, his Luton side going from 1-0 up to 2-1 down thanks to Diallo’s moment of brilliance and a thumping Trai Hume header.
“We’ve got to be better in those moments, but they’re not cutting us open.”
The play-off final between Sunderland and Middlesbrough or Coventry City will be decided in the next 90 minutes. Tony Mowbray's team might succeed twice in a year at the national stadium, advancing Sunderland from the abyss of League One to the Premier League's promised land after so many years of agony at Wembley.
“Amad, he’s a magician with his left peg. He’s scored many goals like that this season so it’s no surprise to anybody. It was a great goal,” Mowbray says, his Sunderland side travelling to the Kenilworth Road for the second leg on Tuesday night.
“Nobody is getting carried away. We know how tough it is at Luton. They flood your box. They’ve got lots of big players, and you’ve got to try and deny them set plays and corners.
“(Luton) showed they’re a good football team. They moved the ball around well, and they’ve got some very athletic players and some talented individuals. We have to get ready and start feeling as if it’s 0-0. Go to Luton and try and get a positive result.”
Amad Diallo's form hasn't gone unnoticed by Manchester United's manager Erik Ten Hag who affirmed on Friday during his press conference ahead of Saturday afternoon clash with Wolves that the Ivorian winger has a future at the club.
According to the Manchester Evening News, when asked by media on Friday if Amad will be a part of his plans for the upcoming season, Ten Hag responded as follows: "Yes, of course, we loan such players to make development and make progress to bring them back, that is the aim of the loan."
“So we are really strong with them, we mentor them, we follow them, we have communication over the season, especially (technical director) Darren Fletcher invests a lot in such processes, the aim is to bring them back but as a better player with experience.”
The Sunderland AFC's Young Player of The Year in a recent interview opened up about Erik Ten Hag's role in his loan move to Stadium of Light.
The forward has revealed what Erik ten Hag told him ahead of his loan spell to the Stadium Of Light outfit. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I spoke to him before I came here.
“He said it would be a good experience for me to play more games, to get more confidence and to come back to Manchester more ready.”
Amad's abilities were evident to Sunderland's boss Tony Mowbray during the campaign, so he was unsurprised by the blow and branded the young man a "magician." The Black Cats will now aim to arrive at Wembley on Tuesday night with a victory.
Post a Comment